Amy rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Asher. You sound as pompous as Dr. Avery. Give us a break already — we’re all friends here.”
Zella snickered. “You know, she’s right. I was trying to figure out who you reminded me of.”
“Thanks, I love being compared to that douchebag.” He raised an eyebrow at us. “Don’t you know you’re supposed to flatter your project lead and do anything he says?”
“Anything?” Amy purred. She looked like she was going to climb across the desk and rip his shirt off.
Zella shook her head and rolled her eyes at me. I froze — she was actually being friendly — before rolling mine back at her. Time to interrupt the suddenly skanky vibe filling the room.
“Since I’m the new girl here, can you explain all this?” I gestured to the computer and Asher’s spreadsheets.
“Of course.” He sounded relieved as he pulled up a few more documents, pointedly ignoring Amy’s loud sigh. “I think it would probably help everyone here to know a little more about the project. Several years ago, Dr. Avery had a breakthrough in proving that an Einstein-Rosen bridge wasn’t just theoretical. He discovered a new particle, in line with the Higgs boson, that hinted that a space-time continuum might be possible. Around the same time, the government also became interested in his research and contacted QT to talk about a partnership. With their resources and our scientists, it’s only a matter of time before we have a working model.” Asher’s eyes flashed with excitement, and I could tell this was something he loved. It made me love it, too. I was glad to be part of QT and the work they were doing here.
“One of the first tasks is verifying Dr. Avery’s calculations and recreating his first tests to make sure there are no mistakes while the machine is being built.” Asher paused and looked around the room. “I’ve handpicked you four as my own special team. I want the best students at QT to help me validate the tests and make sure we’re on the right track. What do you say?”
Zella did a little chair-dance, her curly black hair bouncing. “Count me in. I’ve been waiting for this my whole life.”
Beside her, Max nodded. “I’m in. My grandfather is going to be so freaked out when I tell him. He was part of the original work done here in Oak Ridge.”
Amy stared at Asher almost reverently. “I never thought I’d get to be included in something like this. Thank you.”
Everyone in the room turned to look at me. Zella’s lips thinned before she said, “What’s Lexie going to do?”
I blinked at her. So much for Zella being nice. “Not quite sure why I was included in with the rest of you, huh, Zella? I mean it’s not like I’m as smart or as advanced, so how could I possibly manage this kind of project?”
Zella’s face flushed, and she looked down at her hands. “You just started at QT. You don’t have our experience. And this project is too important to mess up. It’s not like I don’t like you personally, but…”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “But why am I here?”
She shrugged, and Asher slammed his hand down on the desk. “I don’t appreciate you questioning my choices here, Z. I’m the one who pulled this team together, and everyone in this room has something to contribute.”
He turned to me, dismissing Zella. “Lexie, you and I are going to take a first pass at this calculation. Amy, you’ll be working with Max and Zella to create a simulation of the machine.”
Amy’s face fell. “I thought we’d be… If you guys need help…”
“We’ll call you guys in if we need it. Right now, we need to focus on both of these things. They want to have a first test of the system before the big conference in December. Which means we need to get to work right away.” Asher paused, pinning each of us with his gaze. “Unless someone objects to my choices.”
No one moved.
“Then I suggest we all get to work.”
Max got to his feet and extended his hand. “Thanks for including me, man. I appreciate it.”
Asher shook it. “I can’t think of anyone I’d want on my team more.”
Max beamed and nodded at Zella and Amy. “Let’s get moving, ladies. We have some research to do. See you later, Lexie?”
I nodded at him as they shuffled out of Asher’s office. The air grew heavy with whatever was between us, and I suddenly wished I was going with them — even with Zella. Shifting in my chair, I studied the sonic screwdriver Asher had in a stand on his desk so I wouldn’t have to meet his gaze. “Thanks for including me.”
He looked up from his keyboard. “Lexie, I know how smart you are. And I know you’re going to add a lot to this team.”
“You keep saying that, but how do you know? I sure haven’t seen it. And I’ve been looking.”
Asher leaned forward, and I forced myself to meet his gaze.
“Remember your first day here at QT? As soon as my dad introduced you, all these memories of you came rushing back. When I was a kid, I overheard Mom and Dad talking about what they were doing to you, and I was horrified. I bugged my mom for weeks to get her to tell me more, but she wouldn’t. Eventually, I let it go. Forgot about it. Until I saw you.”
He looked down at his desk. At his hands. Anywhere but at me. “And then I finally did what I couldn’t do all those years ago. I hacked into your files to see what they’d done. I know why your dad was scared for you. Your test scores are astonishing, Lexie.”
I shook my head, too confused to even know how to feel any more. “It still didn’t give them the right to experiment on me. Why didn’t my dad just bring me to QT?”
“This place isn’t as bad as Branston, but it has its problems, too. I mean, yeah, we’re building a wormhole machine, but at what price?” Asher rolled a pen between his long fingers, and I knew he was talking about his absentee mom.
A pang of sympathy rushed through me, and I ran a finger along the beveled edge of the glass desk. I’d never told anyone about this, not even my mom. “When I was a kid, I memorized the entire periodic table so I could impress my dad. And then he got too busy with something here at work to call. I waited by the phone every day for two weeks.”
Asher glanced up, slid a hand over mine and squeezed. “My mom and I were supposed to go camping when I was eight. I memorized all the constellations in the summer sky. Then she went to Switzerland for a conference and never came back.”